Suzy Menkes

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Fashion News Roundup

Fashion News Roundup: Ecco Domani Fashion Foundation Award Winners, Get Your Andrej Pejic Tee Now, and Rachel McAdams Covers February’s Glamour

Ecco Domani Announces Fashion Foundation Award Winners: Haus Alkire, Corell Corell, and Tim Coppens are amongst the seven up-and-coming designers who received the honor along with $25,000 grants to build their brands, and prepare for New York Fashion Week. Good luck! We can’t wait to see what these young designers have to offer. {WWD subscription required}

Marc Jacobs v. Patrice Lataillade Settle Out of Court: The company has settled with former employee Patrice Lataillade, who claimed he was fired after complaining about president Robert Duffy’s inappropriate behavior and sexual discrimination. {Vogue UK}

The UK Telegraph Has Found Suzy Menkes’ Hair Inspiration: We knew that coif couldn’t have come out of nowhere! The Telegraph tweeted a photo of an early 1700s porcelain plate featuring a woman with the same ‘do. Okay, Suzy, we see your colonial era swag! Werk! {Fashion Foie Gras}

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UPDATE: Raf Simons Is Not Going to Yves Saint Laurent

In the wake of Raf Simons’ gorgeous spring collection for Jil Sander and subsequent review by Suzy Menkes, a veritable media frenzy erupted over the weekend thanks to a statement by the respected fashion journalist that

“if Raf Simons ultimately takes over the helm at Yves Saint Laurent—as those familiar with the situation in Paris suggest–the designer will have found a sweet spot for his meticulous modernism.”

Well, turns out that his sweet spot is still at the helm of Jil Sander, and Stefano Pilati is still secure in his position as creative designer at Yves Saint Laurent.

Per a release we just received this morning from Yves Saint Laurent:

Yves Saint Laurent disclaims and regards as unfounded the current rumors concerning the creative direction of the house. Stefano Pilati continues to dedicate his talent and energies to Yves Saint Laurent and the coming fashion show.

Jil Sander is also refuting the rumors. According to Elle UK, Raf Simons has apparently just signed a contract for another four seasons as Jil Sander’s creative director.

This is one of those rumors that originated on Twitter–which sometimes can be better than any “official” news source–but which also sometimes proves to be a liability.

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Breaking: Raf Simons Reportedly Taking Over at Yves Saint Laurent

The New York Times‘ Suzy Menkes review of Raf Simons’ spring 2012 show for Jil Sander opens with a startling piece of news: that the designer is set to take the reins at Yves Saint Laurent, replacing Stefano Pilati as head designer.

The news is doubly surprising since Pilati’s dismissal has not yet been announced, although the designer is reportedly hard to work with and rumors about his ousting have been swirling for quite some time now. In February we reported that Pilati was rumored to be out–and named Raf Simons as a front runner to replace him.

While nothing has been confirmed by either Simons or Yves Saint Laurent, the fact that this rumor is coming from Suzy Menkes, who has been covering the industry for the paper of record for years, means it’s likely true. At the very least, it would seem that the designer, who Menkes says, “certainly has earned an audition for that position,” is in talks with the brand.

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Fashion News Roundup

Fashion News Roundup: Another Emma Watson Cover, Nicola Formichetti Won’t Style Fat People and Jason Wu Makes Plastic Shoes

Emma Watson’s Harper’s Bazaar UK Cover: Watson continues to dazzle post-Potter with a stunning Jekyll-and-Hyde dual cover for the British mag’s August issue. It’s gorgeous and definitely more interesting than her Vogue cover. Which do you prefer, the lighter newsstand copy or the subscriber’s darker edition? {Fashion Gone Rogue}

Read: Suzy Menkes Questions Fashion Exhibitions: International Herald Tribune style critic wrote an excellent opinion piece on the proliferation of global fashion exhibitions, questioning the reasoning behind the trend and if fashion can really be considered museum-worthy art. A very worthwhile read for anyone who’s ever seen a curated fashion exhibit. {NY Times}

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People & Parties

Miu Miu London Gets a Makeover: Katie Grand, Chloe Moretz, Natalie Massenet Celebrate

LONDON–Now 18 years old, Miu Miu–Prada‘s jaunty little sister–has just moved into her new address on London’s New Bond St. alongside YSL and McQueen. Celebrating the two story flagship’s Roaring 20s-themed makeover were stateside celebs Jessica Alba–in a sequin caramel and citron silk shift–Twilight star Jamie Campbell and his fiance, Harry Potter actress Bonnie Wright, as well as fresh faces like Chloe Moretz and Emma Roberts.

The space’s new look takes its cues from the Mayfair neighborhood’s original tenants of art and antiques dealers, completing the grown up glamor with pink flamingos and dirty martinis by Peter Dorelli of the Savoy, the UK’s oldest luxury hotel, which itself recently underwent a £220 million restoration.
Catwalk looks occupied the second floor with Miu Miu‘s covetable bags and accessories on the ground floor replete with a limited edition six-piece range of satchels in everything from faux fur and snakeskin to leather and studs.

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Fashion News Roundup

Fashion News Roundup: McQueen’s Memorial, The Other Meat Dress, and Is Gossip Girl Holding Up the Tents?

Remembering McQueen: A gathering of about 1,000 people took place at St. Paul’s Cathedral to memorialize Alexander McQueen. Speakers at the ceremony included Suzy Menkes and Anna Wintour, who told the story of how she “forgave” Mcqueen for not showing up to a photo shoot. {NY Times}

Gossip at the Tents: The main tent is still up at Lincoln Center, four days after the last show. Perhaps Gossip Girl will follow their next FNO episode with some staged Fashion Week footage. We can only hope. {Racked}

Gaga’s Meat Dress Was a Copycat: Lady Gaga probably thought her VMA meat outfit was one of her most original yet. Not so. According to Ripley’s Believe It or Not: Enter if You Dare! a Chicago girl wore a dress made from salami and bacon. Better luck next time, Gaga. {Refinery 29}

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Fall 2010 Milan

Suzy Menkes Sticks Up For Milan, Then Pisses Me off

As a whole, International Herald Tribune fashion editor Suzy Menkes’ latest piece–on why Milan Fashion Week is often overlooked by the fashion industry–really struck me. “Italy—like any other host country—deserves more from the fashion world than a cursory glance at the shows. The audience needs time to savor the city,” says Menkes, referring to the [...]

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Prep School Fashion Hackers’ Access Denied, Part II

Yesterday, Steff mentioned the Gawker story about high school crashers – the daughter of a Vermont politician and her smartly dressed friend. Last night, this email landed in our inbox: Hi Britt, First of all, I absolutely LOVE Fashionista, I read it every day. I am a senior at a public high school in NYC, [...]

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Quote of the Day

Suzy Menkes Gives Givenchy a Boost

“The collection was almost too compressed, as though Mr. Tisci could not leave enough time to savor a thought before taking another bite. But it was strong, upscale and without the street feel seen in his previous collections — nor the louche vision of the 1970s channeled by Tom Ford at Gucci in the 1990s.The [...]

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Shopping

Framing Fashion

I spent last week in Beirut. The city, perched in the middle of Lebanon on the Mediterranean Sea, fancies itself the fifth fashion capital of the world. They’ve emerged from war after war after war with an outdoor mall version of 5th Avenue, Solidere, where ancient Roman ruins run up against Marc Jacobs and the [...]

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Where Facebook & Luxury Meet

The International Herald Tribune‘s hosting a conference in Berlin right now. Techno Luxury’s the theme and Christopher Bailey, Jefferson Hack, Claudia Schiffer, Tomas Maier, Natalie Massenet, Frida Giannini and Prada’s Tomaso Galli will take turns speaking and answering questions about new technology’s effect on the fashion industry – blogging, twittering etc. Top quotes (via Twitter [...]

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Quote of the Day

“And new-millennium Balmain has definitely caught the fashion moment, as well as the attention of a whole wide world of bloggers, Tweeters and cyberspace image makers. They see in Mr. Decarnin the vibe of the moment: love it, grab it, own it, have fun with it. MySpace is his space.” –Suzy Menkes in her interesting [...]

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